


Your Daily Coffee Reminder

by RooViesun



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Friendship, Getting Back Together, How Do I Tag, I'm Bad At Titles, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, and summaries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:02:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21833032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RooViesun/pseuds/RooViesun
Summary: Everyone in highschool knew how close Ten and Johnny were, until Johnny turned down his confession and avoided him like a plague.(Years later, they met again and Ten was still in love with the guy.)
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 6
Kudos: 48





	1. Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> Here comes the AU nobody ask for! This is my first time writing fic and i hope you enjoy it and not bothered by all grammatical errors or lack of vocabs @@ Uhh, okay, that's it!

Ten was a certified Johnny fan.

At least that’s what they’re saying in his highschool days, that Ten was _definitely_ more whipped for Johnny than any other students who used to put letters and gifts in Johnny’s locker could ever be. His best friends, Sicheng and Jaehyun always joked about it and Ten couldn’t do anything other than rolling his eyes to defend himself. Fortunately, they stopped talking about it once Ten made it clear that his feelings for Johnny _might be_ real.

The weirdest part from the whole mess was probably how Johnny never noticed the rumours surrounding them, especially since he’s part of the gang. Maybe because he impossibly never heard of the whispers throughout the hall. Maybe he didn’t care. Maybe he pretended that he never heard of anything, or maybe, he’s just that frustatingly oblivious.

And Ten was extremely grateful for that. It means that he had more time to think and decide whether he should confess or to bury his one sided crush without changing things between them for a while.

“I would confess if I were you.” Jaehyun said, “I mean, he’s going to graduate next year while you’ll still be here for another year, stuck with lots of books that’s already paid for but never really used by the teachers.”

“For me, it’ll be better if I set my feelings aside. What if he’s not into you? And then he’ll distance himself while you’re dealing a broken heart.”

“I don’t think_ hyung_ will do something like that.” Jaehyun replied.

Ten shook his head and pointed his fingers to Sicheng. “Nah, Sicheng is right. That’s what I’m scared of. Wow you really understand my fear.”

“You asking for Sicheng’s advice is almost like you’re talking to a mirror.” Doyoung replied while placing his groceries, “Which is not bad. Although I prefer having two Sichengs instead of two Tens.”

“Hello Doyoung? I’m right here?” Ten waved his hand annoyed, then eyeing the bottles Doyoung put on the table, “Oh wait you’re bringing Johnny’s wines? Like, we’re going to have underage drinking party here?”

“Uhh… that sounds wrong, but no, we’re not. This is gift for his cousin. Besides, your alcohol tolerance sucks and-“

“What???”

“-and I definitely don’t want to clean all of your mess.” He said before finally joining seat with Sicheng, hugging the poor boy who struggled to pushed Doyoung away, “So, what’s next? Confessing?”

Ten love it when his friends blurted out their advices nobody asked for. It helped him in measuring things because he heard many perspective of them. Jaehyun the optimist advice giver, Sicheng the rather pessimistic one, and Doyoung the –choosing whatever decision based on logic– one. And last, Johnny….. he couldn’t describe Johnny because Ten was, _okay_, whipped. He’d do anything Johnny told him to. Perhaps.

They first met when he’s in his first year of junior high, that time Johnny was already in his second year, still struggling with languages, and having a food poisoning case on second week of school, meanwhile Ten sprained his ankle because he’s too excited in showing Jaehyun and Sicheng a dance move he learnt from Taemin, his favorite dancer from Youtube. Ten, then, met Johnny in school infirmary, and the moment he saw the older guy, he just knew that he’d get along very well –mainly because they’re both foreigner and still adapting, thus, explained why they both shared the same fate of repeating the class.

A year after, he introduced Jaehyun and Sicheng to Johnny, and the latter introduced Doyoung, whom, at the same day, easily became a part of the gang. People –mostly girls were starting to noticed the five of them in the beginning of Ten’s third year, and some of them pointed out what Ten never realized before; a fact that him and Johnny pretty much attached at the hip, more than Sicheng and Jaehyun acting like twins. They said, it’s kind of cute to see Ten always following Johnny around like a puppy. That’s when the term ‘that one boy who’s certified whipped for Johnny’ started to spread like a wildfire.

Ten called it magnetism. Johnny was born with this personality that made people, mostly introverts, instantly feeling comfortable with him. Unfortunately, Ten was a part of said population.

In his defense, he’s not a social butterfly like Johnny. Whereas the older made friends almost anywhere –be it sports or partying, Ten preferred to create art and limited his interaction to some people he’s comfortable with.

Fast forward, admist their own busy schedule, Johnny always updated many things to Ten, _vice versa_, and would drag Doyoung to hangout together as much as possible. The most draining part was probably when Johnny’s_ fans_ always asking him for his schedule, and much to Ten’s surprise, Johnny told him the same thing happened with him too, which was weird, because Ten’s life was absolutely very normal compared to Johnny’s; no stalkers, no admirers, no fanbases, just nope.

And then, here’s the hardest part.

Ever since he realized his cute, tiny crush towards Johnny grew bigger and bigger, he felt like he’s losing himself. He started to noticed little things in a sparkly way; like how the older had a cute, plump lips shape; how his flexible eyebrows always supportively showing his emotions with the tiniest movement; how his dimple shows whenever he smile because of small things (Ten always tried to count his dimples but failed because he’s lost in admiration); how he had cute, subtle lisps whenever he talked in any languages; how he’s so tall compared to Ten’s tiny self, he must be the perfect height for Ten to bury his-

“Stop. I think I can hear your imagination from here.” Sicheng interrupted.

“You better control yourself before he arrives, because, I bet you’ll act stupid and he’ll be the only one who will not notice it.” Doyoung added. Ten rolled his eyes, but silently agreed. He hated the fact that most of the time, Doyoung was right.

“Whoops, here comes the big bear.” Jaehyun whispered, while trying to hold his laughter upon seeing a very flustered Ten. When Johnny arrived, the smaller was hiding behind Jaehyun on reflex and never let go, saying stupid shit like he’s counting holes on Jaehyun’s sweaters out of boredom. Johnny only raised an eyebrow, not questioning things any further.

To make it short, Johnny and Doyoung were getting busier –preparing their final year and such, and honestly, it sucks. It means, there’d be less and less time for them to hang out, and it’s getting harder for him to not thinking about Johnny. In other words, yes, he missed him.

It took Ten months to consider confessing his huge crush on Johnny. He’d like to thank Jaehyun for brainwas- for always supporting Ten by pushing his optimistic agenda and Sicheng for giving him the least coward solution: to confess near Johnny’s graduation.

On Tuesday morning, Ten received a message from Johnny and almost dropped his phone. The man had gone missing for 3 months and suddenly decided to showed up in private chat, of course he’d overreact. Ten opened his chat to see a picture of a very ugly graphic design, then furrowed his brow. It’s an invitation for a farewell party.

**Johnny**

_[Image attached]_

_I know you’re not interested in parties but_

_They’re inviting Taemin ;)_

_Wonder if you wanna join?_

_It’s open for everyone_

Holy shit they invited Taemin, of course Ten wanted to join. He replied in lightning speed.

**Ten**

_SDFHDJSKHFKD_

_OF COURSE I’M COMING what kind of question is that_

_Anyway, you finally showed up_

_Thought you died from stress_

**Johnny**

_Noted_

_Wrong. I’m balding from stress_

**Ten**

_?????_

_For real???_

**Johnny**

_Well why don’t you check it out on Saturday_

_Oh, invite Jaehyun and Sicheng too_

**Ten**

_…….why don’t you send the invitation to the group_

**Johnny**

_Oh shit_

_Forgot they exist lmaooo_

_My memory is so bad these days guess I’m ageing faster_

_I’m old, Ten, I’m slowly turning into dust!_

_I’m going to vanish, Ten!! Help me!_

_Aaaaaaaaa!_

**Ten**

_What the fuck_

**Johnny**

_Hahahah_

Ten threw his phone and silently squealed. First, he’s going to meet Taemin, his favorite youtuber turned idol for the first time, soon enough. Second, he’s glad his years of annoying Johnny with Taemin stuff was finaly bringing good result. Third, he’s glad Johnny finally contacted him after months of leaving his last, cheering messages on read, and-

And he’s going to meet Johnny _very soon_.

The thought made his stomach churned in anxious and excitement. Meeting Johnny means he needed to race with time. Johnny would graduate in, what, probably 5 months and Ten still didn’t know what path the man would take, or maybe, had choosen for his future. The chance of Johnny missing again like the past 3 months was getting bigger and bigger, so, he definitely should spend more time with the older while he can.

Ten quickly typed Sicheng’s and Jaehyun’s name, unloading his feelings by spamming, almost forgot inviting them to the party. He didn’t remember which one of them replied first, but he remembered how he tried his best to maintain his calm and failed, and ended up sending lots of squealing voicenotes.

On Saturday, he couldn’t stop looking for Johnny. It’s a shame, really, because he thought he could enjoy watching Taemin’s performance instead of desperately looking for the older guy. His action, of course, got an eyebrow raise from Jaehyun and Sicheng, but they still let him roam around freely without further questioning in the end.

The place was now overcrowded. It took him a push, a few attempt to slip through people like a liquid, and many ticklings, to finally leave the hall. When fresh air hit him, he realized, then, that there’s no way Johnny didn’t enjoy the performance too.

Damn, he looks so desperate, he wanna hit himself.

Since going back to the crowd would be tiring and watching Taemin from a far could only make him regret things, he decided to explore the place. He huffed once in a few steps, shooing his thoughts away, until he reached the balcony, then scrunched his nose when he noticed the place was full of couples.

Minutes later, he sat by the swimming pool alone. Nobody wants to stay near the pool in this cold weather except him, not to mention the area was not so beautiful for a date. He would like to know who designed this place, so he could blacklist the architect’s name.

“Swimming pool, really?”

Ten almost jumped out of his skin. He turned to see Johnny laughed his head off, and then huft in annoyance. Still couldn’t hide the smile forming on his face, though.

“Stalkers doesn’t have the right to complain.”

“I’m not a stalker!” He laughed.

“Sureeeeee” Ten rolled his eyes. Johnny took a seat beside him, all smiley, and it did something to Ten’s heart, so he choosed to look away, straight into the calm water.

“For someone who’s always talking about Taemin for 35040 hours, you sure looks excited.”

“You counted that??”

“No. I’m guessing.” He laughed, “So, what’s Taemin’s number one fan doing here, instead of watching his free performance?”

“I was-” _looking for you_, “-lost while searching for the toilet and it’s hard to go back into those crazy crowd so….” Ten shrugged.

They stayed in comfortable silence for a while. Ten stole glances and noticed Johnny was busy scrolling his phone, in his left hand was a glass of warm coffee. He unconsciously scratched his head out of nervous, suddenly not knowing what to do. Starting a conversation was definitely harder than he thought.

“I’ll go back to Chicago after graduation.”

That caught Ten off guard. He already predicted things and Johnny going back to Chicago was one of them, but to hear it directly from the older made him realized that it’s going to happen soon. So…… only 5 months left for him to fit in Johnny’s schedule, then?

“Nice.” He replied, trying his best to appear calm, “Damn, I’m going to miss you a lot.”

“Yeah.” Johnny smiled, “You’re the first person I told about this, by the way.”

“First person? Then there’s another creature before me?” Ten playfully asked.

“Mr. Kim’s cat, Heebum.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Yeah, _you_ are crazy.”

The rest of their conversation was going great like usual. It’s like those 3 months of silent never happened. Like they were never apart. Like there’s a natural connection between them. Perhaps they’re best friends too in their past lives, Ten thought.

When Ten confessed to the taller, however, his world undeniably crumbled.

“No, sorry Ten, this… this is wrong.”

Ten was left speechless. His heart dropped, watching Johnny cruelly left him with his face still frowning. Ten saw Johnny answered his ringing phone and so he waited, with a hope that his love would come back to him. That he’s just leaving him to answer the goddamn call.

He never come back.

* * *

That’s why when Yuta pointed out a ‘_rare, handsome, model like commoner sitting in the corner playing with his laptop with headphones on_’, Ten almost hyperventilated.

That man was, without any doubt, _the_ Johnny Seo.

It’s odd, Ten thought, how his stomach familiarly churned, how his heart beat faster the way it was when he's 16 and foolish, how he felt like something blooming inside him, when he had never felt something like this with all of his exes before, and ironically, this man had never been in the list of some people he had dated.

It's like experiencing first love again, except, this man was, already his real first love.

But then, he’s suddenly reminded of how Johnny left him 6 years ago. How the man avoided him for months, left the country without saying a word, only leaving letters that Ten couldn’t bear to read until today. The act still left Ten hurt as he couldn’t forget the despair he had been going through.

Ten slapped himself, earning a surprised gasps from Yuta. To be honest, Ten felt sorry for him, but he better slapped himself awake rather than feeling the weird twist in his stomach.

“Woah there.” Yuta said, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Ten said, “Just sleepy. I’m only sleeping for like, an hour yesterday.”

Yuta nodded slowly, a little unsure and concerned, then continued scrolling his phone. Ten himself couldn’t help but staring blankly at those sketches scattered on the table.

Initially, Ten was supposed to stay in Sicheng’s apartment to rant about his job, but the man was busy with his dance class, so he sent Ten to Yuta’s place instead, because, as he said, Yuta was feeling lonely these days. When he arrived, the Japanese man brightened up and dragged him to his new favorite café where his friend –Jungwoo? Jungsoo?- works, and now, they’d been staying for almost 2 hours, minding their own business.

“Say, Yuta. Why are we here?” Ten asked, “I mean, I know you’re visiting a friend, but I don’t see you talking to Jungsoo at all.”

“It’s Jungwoo.” Yuta corrected, then pointed out to the counter. “And he’s busy right now can’t you see? Why? You don’t like this place?”

Ten turned his head to the counter where the line was getting longer and longer. Jungwoo was busy handling a seemingly annoying, loud customer, meanwhile the other workers was busy with their own jobs. There’s someone approaching the pink haired trainee and the man immediately ran with a mop to where the caller was seated.

It’s lunch time, Ten noticed. No wonder the café was suddenly crowded with people wearing shirts and ties. They must be from the company across the street.

Ten looked at the corner where Johnny was seated again only _out of curiousity_. Physically, there’s nothing much changed about him. He looks more mature now, with a slightly different fashion style since the last time Ten remembered him, and that comma hair really suits his now black hair. It’s texture looks silky, he wondered if his hair was still as fluffy as he used to.

Ten gulped, then looked away. He cleared his throat when he noticed Yuta was still patiently waiting for his answer, and ignoring those knowing smile of his.

“No. It’s nice. The interior is nice. Just a little bit overcrowded because it’s Friday. The drinks tasted great too.” He complimented while sipping his- oh no his cup was already empty! He looked up to see Yuta raised an eyebrow, and put the cup back while giving Yuta a forced smile. “You see nothing.”

“Yeah, I see nothing.” He shrugged, before taking Ten’s sketches, “You know, I actually brought you here so that you can finished your deadlines in a rather comfortable space, right? My apartment looks almost the same as yours so it can be a little borin- why did you throw this one? It’s my favorite!” Yuta showed him a paper with red X written on it.

“Well, that’s what I want to rant about. Do you know that the client stretched my drawings for his huge ass banner last time?” Ten took his papers back from Yuta and sighed. “I’ll tell you after finishing these last 2 sketches.” He said. Yuta only nodded.

Ten didn’t know how many minutes had passed, but he couldn’t stop glancing to the corner. When Johnny was out of his sight, he’s unconsciously looking around, and found the man was talking to one of the barista, before leaving the café. A moment later, Jungwoo called Yuta’s name, resulting in Yuta being confused because he didn’t remember ordering more drinks. He still left, though, and came back bringing two cups of coffee. One of them was given to Ten.

“What?”

“For you, duh.”

“No, I mean, why?”

Yuta shrugged. “A promo? Welcome drink maybe? I don’t know.”

Ten stared at his Americano, puzzled.

* * *

He first thought it’s really a welcome drink or some kind of promotion, but it’s been 2 weeks of 6 times visiting the café (yes, someone just found a new favorite place) and he still got those extra Americanos. He’s confused and a little bit annoyed, because he saw no other people got freebies like him. He felt special and it felt weird, because, first, he felt indebted, and second, why him?

So he went to the café earlier this time. Maybe too early, because he didn’t see anyone but him in front of the café. He pushed the door and noticed they’re locked. He frowned. Were the workers late? But it’s impossible.

He waited for minutes while continuously tapping his feet, and sighed when the café was still locked. People might be thinking that he’s going to rob the place.

“Oh, hei!”

Ten turned his head and saw Jungwoo running towards him with plastics full of groceries. He immediately unlocked the glass door while muttering things that Ten didn’t really understand. Suddenly, there’s another tall guy hurriedly approaching them from inside the café. Weird, Ten thought, because he didn’t remember there’s people inside.

“Took you long enough, Cas!” Ten heard Jungwoo complained softly. The Cas guy apologized a few times while grinning like he’s trying to ease Jungwoo’s anger. They talked about something –from what Ten heard, the Cas guy was locked with a trainee because he forgot to bring his keys. Then the pink haired guy he saw almost everytime he visited the café showed up with what looked like his belongings, greeting Ten, and then talked to Jungwoo before leaving the café.

“Sorry about the mess.” He finally said when the Cas guy busy arranging the groceries. “The stubborn one over there is Lucas, and the one who just left is our trainee, Jaemin. ” Ten nodded, not knowing what to answer.

“So, uhmm, I don’t know how to say this, but we never have customers coming this early. Feel free to seat wherever you want since Jaemin already cleaned the place!” Jungwoo continued, then looked at small digital clock on the counter. It’s 08.39. “Now, please excu-“

“Wait! I’m coming here to meet you.” Ten said, earning Jungwoo’s confused look. “Well, you know, since you’re the one who always handled my order, I wonder if you always put my order wrongly?”

Jungwoo looks sad, surprised, and almost panicking, so Ten too, panicked.

“No no no! I mean, whenever I come here, I always get an extra Americano, so I wonder if there’s an event or-”

“Oh. Oh thank god.” Jungwoo sighed in relief, “For promos, we have only 50% off special for Christmas edition, but it hasn’t started yet. There’s also buy 3 get-”

“No, I knew about those. I’m just- those free coffees you gave me, they’re not part of your promotion, right? So, I wondered if you put my order wrongly, because, why me?”

Jungwoo blinked, an “Oh.” escaped his lips. He looked over to Lucas as if he’s the answer, and then asked Ten to wait while he ran towards the latter, whispering things. Lucas looked at Ten with excitement and smiled at him before leaving the café. Ten tilted his head in confusion.

“So,” Jungwoo ran back towards him, “The free drinks is-”

“My treat.”

Ten swears his heart almost leapt out of it’s place. Fuck, he knew the owner of that voice and he didn’t dare to turned his head, but his reflex betrayed him, so now, he’s standing face to face, 10 cm apart, with the one and only Johnny.

Damn, he’s getting taller. And no, that smile definitely didn’t make Ten weak _at all_.

“Coffee?”

* * *

Johnny sat in front of him like everything in their past never happened.

He smiled while offering a cup of coffee, which Ten declined, but he _insisted_, and Ten declined, but he kept insisting with that stupid eye smile of his, and _oh my god_, he wiggled his eyebrows like he's flirting.

Ten stared at the cup of coffee on his hand, hoped that his nervousness couldn’t be seen.

It's unfair how Johnny could work his charm easily like that. All those years of disappointment, of imagining how to confront or maybe lashing out to Johnny if they'd ever meet again was starting to disappear, just like that, exorcised by his blinding smile. And now, Ten didn’t know what to do, not when he couldn’t stop admiring the smile he hadn’t seen in years. So he waited in silence, doing anything but looking at the man sitting in front of him.

He choosed to watch people come and go. Bored, he moved his eyes to watch the counter. Jungwoo was now accompanied with his coworkers. Ten recognized one of them. He's always there whenever Ten comes. The other two, however, was rather new. Perhaps they’re switching shift with Lucas and Jaemin. If Ten never cared about their name before, now he cares a lot. Remembering names was a much preferred choice, rather than drowning in whatever atmosphere standing between him and Johnny.

The café was now starting to crowded like usual, but the noises of people talking couldn’t melt the level of awkwardness between them. It’s almost 9.30 AM, which means, they had been sitting in silence for almost half an hour. Damn, his favorite anime would start in 30 minutes.

“Since when are you waiting for the shop to open?” Johnny finally spoke. Ten’s glad the conversation didn’t start with a boring ‘how are you’s.

“Eight.” He shortly answered.

“Why not coming at ten?” Johnny said before bitting his lip. Ten almost rolling his eyes at the lame joke. C+ for trying.

“Okay, okay. So, you’re coming here an hour before the shop open, for, what I know, asking about the mysterious free coffee?”

“You’re making me sounds desperate.” Ten answered, “I waited for an hour because the workers are the ones who’s late!”

Johnny frowned but his smile was still there, “They’re coming on time, though?”

“No, they’re not?”

“The café opens at nine, so they’re not late at all.”

_Huh?_

Ten blankly stare, trying to process Johnny’s words, and when realisation hits, his eyes immidiately searched for any things that could confirmed his stupidity. As if noticing Ten’s confused look, Johnny pointed to the sticker plastered on the big ass window. It said:

**Mon - Fri : 09.00 - 22.00**

**Sat - Sun : 08.00 - 23.00**

_It’s Monday today_.

Ten blinked and trying his best to not do something stupid. He could feel flush creeping up his cheek, and felt a little offended when he heard Johnny accidentaly laughed.

“I’m going to tell the baristas you shit talked them.”

“Fuck off.”

And then they’re bathing in silence again. Ten stole glances with Johnny before sipping his coffee to hid his little smile. To be very honest, he didn’t expect talking to someone who made him insecure for years would actually be enjoyable. He missed them like this. At least, the way Johnny opened up their conversation had warmth the air around them a little.

“I miss your smile.”

_Yeah, same, Johnny. You’re not special._

“I’m sorry.”

That caught Ten off guard. He put his drink and looked up to Johnny, eyes searching for….. he didn’t know, really. Truth maybe?

“What are you sorry for?” Ten baited.

“For leaving. For avoiding you. For the way I talk that night. Everything. I ruined this. Us.”

Now that Johnny apologized to him like this, it’s harder for Ten to keep his angry, unfriendly mask on. In fact, he almost threw it completely. Gosh, he hated himself sometimes.

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

And then another silent. Ten’s cup was almost empty now, so he glanced to see the time. His anime had already started for 14 minutes. He wondered if Johnny still had something to talk about because it feels like their conversation hadn’t finished yet. Or maybe Ten should excuse himself and leave?

“John-”

“I wonder if we… if I can have your contact?”

“What?”

“I want to keep in touch with you.” He said rather confidently, “I want us to be connected like how we used to. I want to fix this. Us.” He continued. When Ten didn’t answered, he cleared his throat, “Well, only if you want it though. You can refuse.”

Ten had never seen Johnny like this before, all sad, being so unsure and nervous when talking to people. The man was always knew what to talk about, never made people felt awkward, even if he fucked up. This made Ten felt a little special.

So, he did what he thought would be the best for both of them. Writing his numbers on a piece of paper, throwing (yes, he threw) it to Johnny, and watch as the man’s eyes lit up, biting his lips to control his smile. His action gave Ten a little bit of satisfication of finally having a slight control over their relationship, and Ten couldn’t help but feeling happy too, but he kept the secret only to himself.

“So, what are we?” Ten asked.

Johnny smiled.

* * *

Ten arrived in front of his apartment exhausted. Sure, his sudden encounter with Johnny was not bad, but still, it’s draining to see someone you never expected invited you for a coffee, not to mention today was supposed to be his lazy day. To make it worse, he missed today’s episode and bet Yuta would teased him with spoilers.

He frowned when a thump was heard from inside and put his card back into his pocket. He pressed his ear to the door, searching for any proof that the sound really came from his own apartment. Another thump was heard, and now he could hear clearly there were noises of a few people yelling to each other.

He had a bad feeling about this.

He was about to knock when he suddenly thought that maybe, surprising himself would be a good option. So he pulled out his card again and tapped, then opened the door, to see one of his worst nightmare.

There’s someone laying on his sofa, busy with his phone while another two were running around his living room, cursing words escaping their lips loudly he afraid he’d get protests from his neighbors. Scattered food were clearly seen with blue liquid spilled on the floor, and someone was working hard on cleaning the mess. It’s Kun, Sicheng’s cousin.

Ten took a deep breath, surpressing his emotion so he wouldn’t jump on the boys and eat them alive.

“Shut up, donkey! Look! Ten-ge’s already home!” Yangyang screamed, and then everyone’s eyes landed on him. The blond haired one, Xiaojun, seemingly unbothered, so he continued playing mobile games, meanwhile the black haired one, Hendery, shoved Yangyang and ran towards Ten who was stunned near his front door, before being tackled, which resulted in another loud thump. “Yangyang caused all of these mess!” He reported.

Ten stared at Kun, who stared at him back. Before he opened his mouth, however, Kun interrupted.

“Don’t ask me why, I’ve already sent you messages.”

“When??? I didn’t see any!”

“I said that we’re going to come over because our neighbor is moving out and these kids couldn’t stand the noises eventhough they’re noisier.” He answered, then Hendery accidentaly hit a bag full of newly opened chips, adding more mess to the floor.

Kun closed his eyes and took a deep breath, while Ten threw his phone to where Xiaojun was sitting. Fuck this. If his plan for the day was already half ruined, might as well ruined it completely and have fun with it.

“I’m going to eat you all!” He said, before chasing Yangyang and Hendery around the room. The boys screamed, and Kun was last seen massaging his temple. Xiaojun took Ten’s phone when there’s a buzz, then squinted his eyes.

“Ten-ge, there’s a message from Jo-”

Ten snatched his phone and ran into his bedroom, shut the door when Yangyang tried to stole his phone. He looked at the unknown number before reading the message through his notification. There’s a mixed feeling about the whole idea of having in contact with Johnny again. On one side, he felt extremely happy, but on the other side, he still couldn’t forget how he was being ignored until the man graduated and flew back to Chicago.

Still, it didn’t change the new hope growing inside his heart. So, he carefully saved the number before reading the whole message again.

**Johnny**

_Hello, this is your one and only Johnny. I hope you have a perfect day, just like your name!_

_Ps: Don’t forget to claim your daily Americano at 10!_


	2. Dynamics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy late Christmas!  
(This is my first time writing fic and i hope you enjoy it and not bothered by all grammatical errors or lack of vocabs @@ Uhh, okay, that's it!)

_“Which one is better? Navy or black?”_

“Move your phone a little! I can’t see anything!”

Ten watched as Jaehyun changed the angle, still asking the same question. Ten stared for a long time because the color didn’t look much different through camera, then choosed the navy coat. Jaehyun was seen thinking for a while before deciding to put both coats back to its place, resulting in Ten complained.

“Why did you ask for my opinion if you’re not going to buy it?” he asked, only got Jaehyun’s laugh as a reply, “Oh. I want to ask you something.”

_“Hm?”_

“What do you think about people who gives free coffee everyday?”

_“Selling coffees? Promoting their new drinks? Poisoning people?”_

“No! I mean, if someone is buying you coffees for like, everyday?”

Jaehyun went silent for a while before cooing at a big, fluffy dog passing by, then _“Interested in you maybe? I don’t really know. Why? Someone did that to you?”_

“No. Asking for a friend.” Ten replied. Jaehyun slowly nodded, unsure. “How’s US?”

_“You keep asking the same question every year.”_ Jaehyun chuckled, _“Great I guess? Yeah. I’ll be back in New Year, maybe.”_

“Nobody cares.”

_“Okay, I’ll tell Sicheng that you won’t be joining our hotpot dinner from today onwards.”_

“Wait, what? That’s mean!” Ten protested and again, Jaehyun laughed. They continued their conversation for a while, before bidding goodbye because it’s already past midnight. Ten was still smiling when Jaehyun ended their video call. He checked his social medias and games, and then stopped at his message inbox. He re-read all of Johnny’s messages that he’s been ignoring for half a day, mind wandered to what Jaehyun said minutes ago.

Interested in him? He had thought about it for a few times before, but was it possible? After all this time? After what had happened between them?

Ten threw his phone and heaved a sigh.

No, it’s not possible at all.

* * *

Again, Ten was standing at the same place, around the same time, face to face with the same person, for the second time this week.

Ten curiously and unconsciously looking for Johnny, not listening to Jungwoo repeating his order at all. He always ordered the same drink anyway, so he knew Jungwoo repeated his order was only an act of formality. When he looked back at Jungwoo, the man smiled in a way Ten couldn’t dechiper, then asked: “Are you searching for J-”

“I’M NOT SEArching for J- him!” he half screamed, making Jungwoo startled. Redness of shame creeping up his cheek. “Sorry.”

“No, I should be the one who said sorry. It’s not my place to pry into others’ business.” Jungwoo replied, looking apologetic. Ten bit his lips, feeling bad. “No, it’s fine, I’m just- oh wait! Can I ask you something?”

“Sure!”

“Can you stop giving me free drinks? It feels weird and- I don’t know how to explain it.”

“I’m afraid we can’t do that. Here’s an americano for a perfect person!” said Lucas who winked at Ten while giving him his order. Ten cringed and awkwardly smiled, saying a ‘thank you’ before finding a seat by the window.

He didn’t understand why he’s mildly disappointed when Johnny wasn’t spotted. He told himself this morning that he’d be going to the café only to finished his job, not expecting to meet a certain someone, yet here he was, couldn’t stop checking his surroundings every once in a while, and couldn’t stop looking at the time. Sure, Ten continued working on his artwork just fine, halfway finished, even, but there’s this empty feeling that kind of distracted him a little. No. A lot.

A moment later, a big shadow appeared in front of him, forcing him to look up. It’s Johnny behind the glass, waving at him from outside the café, and suddenly took a photo of him. The man brightly smiled before leaving Ten stunt –he blinked in confusion, mouth widely opened. He slapped himself back to his normal state, head turned when Johnny was seen through his peripheral view, apparently taking the empty seat beside him.

“That’s invasion of privacy.” Ten said, hands mimicked the way Johnny took a photo of him.

“Ah really? What if the person like it?” Johnny asked, still busy looking at his camera and complained upon noticing his own shadow was reflected on the picture.

Ten stared at the man, mind wondered to memories of years ago when they just learned photography. God, they’re so annoying. They’re taking photo of everyone and everything –got complains from Sicheng who didn’t like to be photographed when he’s not in his coolest pose, and Doyoung who always ate his food cold because the two newbies took a very long time to photographed a single food.

The best memories, however, was when him and Johnny took turns taking candid photos of each other. He loved watching himself through Johnny’s perspective and most of the time posting Johnny’s masterpiece on his old, deactivated instagram. He remembered back then, Johnny too, always posted some pictures of him in his account.

Ten snapped out of his thought and realized he probably had spent minutes blankly staring at the man in front of him. Luckily, Johnny didn’t say anything about it and instead, showed him his camera’s preview, giving him a solid proof that his photo had been deleted.

“Now you can’t sue me.” He said, all smiley.

How dare he being this annoyingly gorgeous.

Ten was left speechless. He watched as Johnny left him with a camera, and came back with 2 cups of, Ten guessed, another Americano. If one day Johnny said he actually planned to overdosed Ten with caffeine, he’d 90% believe it.

“Let me guess, you’ve been waiting for me since 10.”

“God no.” Ten put up a disgusted face and busying himself with his sketchbook. Johnny laughed, then said, “Really? The baristas were lying then?”

“They lied to please your demanding question.”

“I didn’t ask them anything though.”

“You lied.”

“Ouch, busted!”

Ten bit his lip, holding back his grin. He looked at Johnny, who’s busy scrolling his phone, and felt a little relaxed. He’s glad the man didn’t put all of his attention towards him- wait, why did Ten think Johnny would do that? They’re only, what, strangers with shared memories whom, (un)fortunately building their friendship again from the very beginning. _It’s not like the man was flirting with him_.

Ten gulped, and suddenly he’s feeling nervous again.

“So, you’re coming for free coffee?”

Oh, right. The free coffee.

Ten opened his wallet and pulled out some money, putting it on the table, and pushed it towards Johnny. The man looked confused and surprised.

“It’s for those coffees you’ve paid for me.” Ten explained, “I don’t want to be indebted.”

“No, take it back. It’s a treat. You’re not indebted to me.”

“Johnny.”

“No, I won’t take it. Or maybe you can just left the money there and let random strangers take it.”

Fucking hell, Johnny was _so_ annoying.

“Fine.” Ten put his money back to where it belongs, “But you must tell Jungwoo to stop giving me free stuffs.”

“Nah, I’m afraid he won’t do that.”

“Why?” Ten asked, which was ignored by Johnny. “Okay, I won’t come to this place again.”

“The baristas will be sad don’t you think so? But it’s okay, I can asked them to deliver it to your address.”

“You don’t even have my current address!”

“Oh, you’re right.” Johnny said, sipping his coffee. “Tell me then.”

Ten squinted his eyes and cleared his throat. “I believe we’re not that close yet, Mr. Seo.” he muttered.

“Ouch.” Johnny put his hand on where his heart supposed to be, his expression exaggerated, “I feel like we’re close though. Like there’s this natural connection between us, like we’re always instantly connected.”

“You wish.”

“Aw, where’s my old sweet Ten? Who are you? What did you do to my Ten?”

_My Ten._

Sometimes he wondered how it feels like to be Johnny, always confident and could said things like that easily, bringing up the mood even with the most awkward people he had ever seen, finding topics to talk like it’s nothing. It’s amazing how years had passed and distance stood between them, yet he still couldn’t stop admiring Johnny.

They became silent then, a comfortable silent. Ten’s back focusing himself on his work. This doesn’t mean he didn’t feel how Johnny’s sitting closer and watching him minding his own business. It did, in fact, made him a little bit nervous. Controlling his breath was never this hard.

“What’s that for?”

“Job.” Ten replied shortly, “I do freelancing.”

“Oh, okay. Did I disturb you? Should I leave?”

Ten stopped his movement for a while, a little panicked when the taller started to packed his things up. There’s an alarm ringing in his head that kept saying that he’d hate the idea of the other leaving. A part of him wanted Johnny to go away, another part of him screamed that he needed a company. So, he did what his reflex told him to: holding, no, grabbing the tip of Johnny’s shirt weakly, preventing the man to go further than he already is.

“NO.” he said, probably a little loud, “No.” he said it again, this time softer, “You can stay.”

And Johnny stayed.

“Should I keep talking or do you prefer working in silence?”

“No. Keep talking.”

“Okay.” Johnny said, “I wonder if you sell your drawings. Do you paint?”

“Yes, and yes. Why?”

“They’re pretty. So, I can buy them right?”

“Yes, but I’d make it very expensive for you, like, 10 times more than it should be.” Ten joked, but didn’t dare to look at Johnny.

“I’m fine with it, as long as it’s your drawing.” Johnny answered confidently. Ten looked up at the man, speechless. Nobody ever loved his drawing this much, not even himself.

“You’re crazy.”

“Crazy for you. Wait no, maybe I’m just obsessed.”

Ten’s breath hitched. How come he could blurted out a joke like that? Was he serious? Was that considered as flirting? Wait, they’re talking about his arts right? Either way, it successfully made Ten’s brain into a pile of mess, and God, when Johnny offered ways to fix their relationship, he didn’t expect playing with his heart would be included in the package.

This time, they fell into an awkward silent. Ten wished he could turn back time so he could tell Johnny to just go and leave him alone. Or no, better, never giving him the second chance to be a part of Ten’s life.

Time flew rather fast, Ten noticed. They’d been sitting in the same place for 4 hours straight and he wondered how Johnny still choosed to stay with him eventhough they only had small talks inbetween their silence. Their coffees were long gone. Ten’s illustration was almost finished. This is a clue for him to, maybe, leave first. It’s a shame though, because deep inside, whatever situation they’re currently in, he still wanted to stay. That’s how Johnny’s charisma always works. It’s always hard for people to stay mad at him.

“Are you still in contact with Jaehyun?”

“Huh?” Ten snapped out of his thought. Oh, they’re still talking. Oh, so Johnny too, still wanted to continue their conversation.

“Ah, yes. Of course we are. What about you and Doyoung? I’ve already lost contact with him, he’s suddenly missing like a ninja.” Ten said, half truth. Doyoung wasn’t missing. Doyoung was definitely avoiding him, and up until today, he still didn’t know what’s the man’s reason for cutting their relationship like that, when the very same man was still in contact with Jaehyun, and sometimes, Sicheng.

“Well yes, of course.”

“Why do you suddenly care about Jaehyun? And you didn’t even mention Sicheng at all, I’m so telling him about this.” He said, earning a laugh from Johnny. “Please don’t. I still want to see you growing taller than me.” He replied.

“The fuck Johnny, how dare y-” Ten stopped when Johnny’s phone buzzed. He didn’t see the caller, but seeing how Johnny immediately answered, they must be from someone very important. There’s a soft heartbreak when he heard how Johnny answered the call sweetly, something he never seen before. He sounds so caring and they’re definitely not his parents or someone Ten knew, based from the tiny bits sound leaking out from the phone. They sounded like a grown up woman. Was the caller his lover?

Johnny stood up while still answering his phone and Ten just…… sitting there, didn’t know what to do. He waited until Johnny ended the call then, and see if the man had something more to say.

“Are you leaving?” Ten curiously asked. Johnny’s smile was so bright, of course he wanted to know what’s happening.

“Yes? We’ve been sitting for almost 5 hours, my ass is burning.” He said, “And I need to pick up Mark and Donghyuck before they’re fighting again.”

“Ohh, new friends?”

“No. My sons.” He shortly answered and Ten controlled his expression extremely hard –a little fail, but at least he tried-, because, what the fuck, Johnny had sons???

“See you next time, Ten! I don’t think I can come tomorrow, but don’t forget to claim your daily free coffee!” he winked, then leave the café in a rush. Ten was left speechless. He couldn’t even say goodbye.

Sons???

* * *

It’s an early Christmas party tonight.

His friends would go back to their home in a few days; Sicheng took a flight back to China with Kun and Xiaojun tomorrow morning, Hendery and Yangyang would travel to Europe with their own families in two days, and Yuta would be back to Japan in two days. So, yeah, a small party full of foreigners in Ten’s place tonight, because Ten’s the only one who wouldn’t go back to his beloved hometown this Christmas.

He’s fine, really, as long as they helped cleaning their own mess, he’s going to be fine.

Ten took a seat on the sofa after drinking too many sodas. He checked his phone’s notification and saw a message from Johnny between tons of spam emails. He only stared, didn’t bother to reply. _‘Not now’_, he thought.

They’d been sending memes to each other these past few days, sometimes asking basic, boring things such as ‘how are you today?’, ‘have you eaten?’, in between, and Johnny always reminded him to claim his daily free coffee, which Ten gradually get used to it.

He still went to the café despite Johnny telling him that he’d not come for some reasons. Not to hope or anything, it’s just the café currently feels like the second home to him, since he’d be too lonely staying by himself, and his friends were busy, and nope, Kun and his three big babies weren’t an option. At least in the café, he could be alone without feeling lonely.

Ten also started to use instagram again –to stalk-, and managed to find Johnny’s account, which thankfully, wasn’t set on private, and had numerous time scrolling his feeds to find any clue about his current life, or to be specific, about his said sons.

The photos he used to take with Johnny when they’re younger was still there, at the very bottom of his post and that’s enough to made Ten smiled, but what caught his eyes the most was the two photos of Johnny with two kids, which was posted around a year ago, and a picture of a woman hugging the same two kids, which was posted pretty recently.

Ten felt his heart dropped each time he opened the two posts. His brain couldn’t stop putting two and two together, and honestly, most of the time, he’s confused at himself. What was he hoping, really? Johnny made it clear years ago that he’s extremely not interested in Ten –avoided him, even- and currently, what they tried to fix was their broken friendship, wasn’t it?

Ten felt dumb.

There’s another message coming from Johnny. Ten accidentaly clicked and cursed, because now he had to reply.

**Johnny**

_Ten?_

_Busy day?_

_What’s your plan for Christmas?_

_Let me guess, you’re going back to Thailand_

**Ten**

_Slr_

_Nope, too broke to go home ;;_

_What about you?_

**Johnny**

_Really?_

_I’m planning to watch star wars on Christmas day_

_Wanna join?_

“Who are you texting with?”

Ten looked up to see Sicheng took a seat beside him, trying to take a peek at his phone. Ten quit his chat (hopefully) fast enough and changed it into a random website, before showing Sicheng a page full of cats videos.

“Look at these ginger fluffs! Cute aren’t they?”

Sicheng squinted his eyes. “Yes, they’re extremely cute, but I saw you texting with someone. Who is it?”

“I didn’t-” Sicheng nodded at the window beside Ten, and Ten could see clearly his phone was reflected on the glass. Ten rolled his eyes. “Okay, you’re right. But I don’t see why I should tell you about this.”

Sicheng shrugged, playing with his empty glass. “You’re so busy with your phone and I just want to know if everything is alright? You ignored Hendery’s invitation to sing. It’s unusual. And you don’t seem to be as happy as us tonight.”

Ten looked at Hendery and Yangyang who screamed their lungs out, singing to some old Chinese songs, Xiaojun hitting their heads because they ruined the song, meanwhile Kun and Yuta was seen playing cards. Yeah, Sicheng was right. He’s the only one who’s too busy in his own world.

“I’m sad because you’re going to leave in less than 12 hours.” Ten said, then put his phone aside, “I’ll be very lonely for 2 whole weeks.”

Sicheng only hummed, then linked their arms together, head rested on Ten’s shoulder. It’s funny, Ten thought, how Sicheng used to be very allergic to physical contact, but now couldn’t stop touching people, especially the one who’s close to him, thanks to his very clingy ex. There was once a moment where Sicheng couldn’t stop hugging people like a koala for a week and Jaehyun laughed through their video call, saying that it’s a very rare phenomenon that should be treasured while it lasted.

“You still haven’t tell me.” Sicheng said.

“What?”

“Who are you texting with? Are they the one who made you sad?”

Ten bit his lips. Should he tell Sicheng about Johnny? The man wouldn’t like it. Ever since Johnny avoided Ten, Sicheng was always upset whenever the name was mentioned.

But Ten could never keep secret and lies, and he didn’t want Sicheng to be left out, so maybe he should tell him?

“Okay, so,” Ten took a deep breath, “I met someone these days. Our first meeting wasn’t nice, but I couldn’t stop thinking about him. We’ve only met for 2 times and I hate to say this, but I enjoy his company.”

“And?”

“The problem is,” Ten sighed, “He already had sons, and probably a wife.”

Sicheng stopped playing with his glass, and looked at him in the eyes with a frown. “Should I be worried?”

“I don’t know.” Ten said, “It’s mean, but I wished they’re adopted.”

“Did you ask him about it?”

“No? Why should I?”

“Confirmation?” Sicheng shrugged, “So you can step back before you’re being played.”

Ten scratched his head. Yeah, that could work too.

“The other problem is, I don’t know if he’s flirting with me, or it’s just my brain feeding me delusions.”

“Why?”

Ten fell silent for a while. ‘Why?’ He never asked himself why.

“Let’s say, someone is giving you free drinks everyday. What is the first thing that comes to your mind?”

“He’s playing a game.” Sicheng answered. Ten frowned, confused.

“Wait, why?”

Sicheng shrugged, “I don’t know. It sounds like you’re forced to claimed it daily? Like daily log in? And daily log in is very common in games don’t you think?”

Asking Sicheng really was a mistake.

“Your answer is so dark, Jaehyun could never.” Ten shook his head, “He asked if I want to join him watch star wars on Christmas.” He continued.

“Who? Jaehyun?”

“No, the man. The one with kids and all.”

“Oh, a date?”

“Stop planting ideas in my brain!” Ten groaned, and Sicheng laughed.

“Go, then. Find out everything you need to know and see if he’s good for you.” Sicheng patted his back, “Now, let’s play with the kids.” He said, before leaving him and snatched Kun’s card. Yuta groaned because he just could never win against Sicheng.

Ten unlocked his phone, staring at their last conversation. He typed and deleted for a few times, making sure that he replied properly. In the end, he replied with only a simple ‘Yes’.

* * *

Today was going to be one of Ten’s busiest day….. in a fun way. He moved around a lot instead of sitting for hours alone, and he’s definitely happier because he finished his deadlines on time, and now he could be freed from staring at blank paper for hours. He choosed his clothes for half an hour, making Yuta, Hendery and Yangyang protested because they’d be late to the airport if Ten kept staring at his reflection for much longer.

“Seriously, Ten-ge? You’re going for a date, not Paris fashion show!” Yangyang groaned.

“Shut up, it’s not a date!”

“Ohhh he’s blushing he’s blushing” Hendery whispered then giggled.

“I’ll make it so you two will miss your flight.”

“Oh no, don’t you dare!” Hendery said, nudging Yangyang, “Say sorry to him!”

“What? You should be the one who said sorry!”

“No, it’s you!”

“You started it first!”

Ten rolled his eyes while wearing his shoes, then checking his apartment for the last time, before locking the door. Hendery and Yangyang still arguing meanwhile he and Yuta talked about a lot of things.

Ten, Yuta, and Sicheng stayed in the same apartment, different floor. So, in order to go the airport easier, Hendery and Yangyang stayed overnight, meanwhile Sicheng’s cat, Hutong, was left with Yuta, because Ten didn’t accept animals in his place. It’s not like Ten hated animals, he’s just trying to prevent pets from damaging his art supplies, or furs floating and sticking on his fresh painted canvas. This morning, Yuta went to visit his cousin, Hansol, and left the cat in his care.

After bidding goodbyes to his friends, he got a message from Johnny. He asked Ten to drop by the café, to take his foods and wallet that he accidentaly left this morning. Ten sighed but still did it anyway.

There’s nothing different about the café other than the Christmas playlist, a little effort of decorating, a Christmas special menu, and different staffs. He saw two of them before, when Lucas and Jaemin was locked in the café for a night. The one replacing Jungwoo, however, was new to him. He looks extremely attractive, with sharp jawline and all, but had a cold vibe around him, eventhough he smiled a lot. It made Ten nervous a little when approaching him, so he talked to the trainee instead.

“Uhh, do you know if someone left their wallet here?”

The trainee looked confused, but still smiled. Then, he heard someone called his name.

“You must be Ten! Johnny sent you here, right?”

It’s the hard-to-approach guy. He learned later that his name was Taeyong. In the end, they talked a little bit, and Ten left with a wallet, a plastic full of foods, a cup of hot chocolate, and a gingerbread cookies. He wondered if they could bring these foods to the studio, or……. perhaps they’re for Johnny’s kids?

**Johnny**

_Why are you taking so long?_

_Where are you?_

**Ten**

_On my way_

_Guess who made me late? Ha. Ha. Ha._

He’s been walking for 15 minutes straight, he’s starting to doubt his ability to navigate places. He walked faster when he finally saw the park where they’re supposed to meet and found everyone but Johnny. He walked around the park, carefully analyzing people, hoping that one of them was him, but he still couldn’t spot the guy at all.

**Ten**

_Bro_

_Where are you I’m lost_

**Johnny**

_I’m this big and you still can’t spot me??_

_Wait I can see you clearly_

_Stay right there_

Ten looked around and still couldn’t see Johnny. On his left hand was a cup of now warm chocolate and a plastic full of foods, on his right hand was his phone and a wallet. The gingerbread was long gone. Fuck, what if the cookie was really for the kids?

“Boo!”

“I’m not surprised.” Lies. Ten almost dropped his phone.

“Okay.” Johnny pouted, “I never planned to surprised you anyway.”

“Sure~” Ten sung, playfully mocking Johnny, then tilted his head, looking at Johnny’s surrounding as if he’s searching for something. Johnny noticed this, of course, and turned around to see if there’s something behind him. When he found nothing’s wrong, he asked Ten.

“Why? Is there something wrong?”

“No, nothing. Just wondering.” Ten said, “You didn’t bring your kids along?”

Johnny frowned, muttering “Kids…. What kids…” and then, “OH! Kids!” he said with intonation that made Ten questioning him, judging the guy because, really, Johnny forgot about his own child? Stubborn. Impossible. Very not johnny like, but also sounds like something he could do.

“You neglected your child you even forgot they existed, what a disappointment.” Ten said, and Johnny laughed.

“No, no! actually, they’re-”

Ten almost yelped when something hit his leg, only to realized it’s actually a hugging him. He looked down to see what it was, and raised an eyebrow when it’s actually a child, probably around 5 or 6 years old. The kid raised his head, looking back and forth between Ten and Johnny, and blushed. He muttered a little sorry before running to hug Johnny and hid his face in shame. Ten blankly stared.

His face looks familiar. He definitely had seen those arched, seagull like eyebrow before. He saw the child in Johnny’s instagram!

“MARK HYUNG GOT THE WRONG UNCLE!” Another child’s voice was heard laughing from his left. Ten turned his head to see the other kid was running towards Johnny and raising his hands, asking to be lifted. He mocked at the seagull-browed kid (he guessed Mark was his name) who still didn’t dare to face Ten. The noisy kid looked at Ten and asked, “Johnny, who’s this thief?”

Johnny gasped, while Ten widen his eyes, confused and a little offended.

Wow, what a bold, young, asshole.

“Oh my- sorry!” Johnny said, couldn’t control his laughter, “He’s not thief, he’s my friend!”

“But he have Haechannie’s food!”

Ten looked down and raised the plastic. _‘Oh, so the food was really for the kids.’_ He thought, somehow disappointed eventhough he knew he shouldn’t have any expectation. Watching Johnny happily talking with kids like this made him felt like a bad guy, guilty for wishing that Johnny’s little family wasn’t real.

And then, a woman stood beside Johnny, and oh! Ten knew her! She’s the one he saw on Johnny’s recent post!

Ten’s stomach churned when he saw her holding two cups of coffee. So, Ten’s not special afterall.

“The noisy one here is Donghyuck, but he liked to be called as Haechan.” Johnny introduced, “The one who hugged your legs before is Mark. And this one is-”

“Wendy.” The woman said, offering a handshake. Ten shook her hand a little weakly –he could felt his major heartbreak, maybe he’d breakdown if only he didn’t care about his pride- and smiled. “Ten.”

The world was unfair, he thought. How come fate decided that it’d be the best for Ten to met the girl who had won Johnny’s heart? This must be his karma for being too attached with Johnny in the past.

“I’m his sister.” Wendy continued.

_Huh??_

“Do you remember? Back then I used to talk about my sister who choosed to stay in the US.” Johnny said, “Yeah, that’s her.”

“Ah….” Ten nodded. He’s glad his assumption was wrong.

Johnny then giving Mark and Donghyuck to Wendy, while taking the cups of coffees away from her. The kids immediately holding her hand tightly –Donghyuck asking to be lifted but she refused and now the kid’s throwing tantrum, it’s funny.

The rest of their time was spent to switched things up; the wallet and foods to Johnny and a cup of coffee to Ten, then the food was given to Wendy, who asked Mark to hold the plastic, before bidding goodbyes to Ten, taking the kids away. Everything happened to fast, and Ten was, definitely, obviously, very confused.

“Johnny you forgot the hot chocolate!” Ten said, panicked when the kids was getting further and further. He’s about to chase after them, but Johnny stopped him.

“Nah, it’s for you.”

“What?” Ten lifted the two cups in his hand, like asking for Johnny’s confirmation if those two drinks were for him, and when the taller nodded, Ten frowned.

“Why?”

“Daily free Americano, remember? And a special drink for a special day.”

“But how am I supposed to finished these all?”

“Don’t? Keep them.” Johnny said as he started to walk. Ten followed.

“Studios doesn’t allow food and drinks from outside.” Ten said, sipping the chocolate quickly in case the worst thing happened, the drink wouldn’t be wasted. The drink’s cold now, no proof that the chocolate was once warm.

“Breaking the rules once won’t hurt.” Johnny said, then winked. Ten stared in disbelief, a big smile was starting to grow on his face. He shook his head, judging the man so hard.

“Are you really Johnny Seo?”

“Yeah? The guy who used to went to parties eventhough he’s still underaged? Definitely me.” Johnny said confidently and grinned.

“You sounded very proud.” Ten replied, “Anyway, are you sure you’re leaving them?”

“Who?”

“Your sister and kids?”

“Yeah? Why- wait, oh my.” Johnny stopped walking, so do Ten. He heaved a sigh while laughing, which was weird because Ten didn’t find anything funny.

“I think there’s a misunderstanding.” Johnny said, scratching his nape, “Those kids weren’t mine, okay? They’re going to meet their father, who’s waiting in the Italian restaurant beside the park.”

“But you said-”

“I know, I’m sorry.” He cut, “I said it out of habit because….. well, they felt like one, maybe? Yeah. Please don’t start rumours about me because of this.” He joked.

Ten stared at the taller, lost. He felt like he’s living as a main character in a soap opera. But oh well, at least Ten got the news he needed, and an answer he wished for. He could feel the weight in his heart had been lifted, and he’s definitely going to tell Sicheng about this.

“That’s cute.” Ten said, “But how can I know you’re not lying?”

Johnny shrugged, then continued walking. “Do you want to ask my sister?” he asked, offering his phone, which Ten refused. Sure, he’s half joking half saying the truth, but judging by Johnny’s reply, he’s definitely saying the truth.

“You know, rather than claiming someone’s baby as yours, you can make one yourself.” Ten teased, then cursed himself. Out of every topics and he talked about this?? Shame.

“I can’t and I don’t want to, maybe. Not now.”

“Ohh, let me guess. You only pretended liking childrens.”

“That’s mean, Ten, but no.”

“So, you’re inferti-”

“No! Yes. Maybe. I don’t know, never tried.”

“Or you’re impote-”

“NO! Definitely not! Let’s drop this topic okay?”

Ten bit his lips, trying his best not to giggle, but lost it when he saw Johnny’s flustered face. The taller was grinning while looking down, hiding his face, which was useless, really, because Ten’s shorter than him. A privilege.

“Okay, this time I’ll guess properly. It must be because nobody wants to date you!”

“Oh, you’re underestimating me. You don’t know how popular I’m in college.” Johnny said with a smug face. Ten rolled his eyes.

“I’m not lying!” Johnny said, “I just don’t want to date, so I refused them all.”

Ten scrunched his nose, “Sure.”

“It never works, you know, dating. Not when I can’t move on from my crush.”

“Ah, really? Was it from highschool? Or college? Do I know her? Wait, you never told me about your crushes.” Ten excitedly asked, when actually, he’s just curious. He wanted to know who’s the lucky person that caught Johnny’s interest. “Is it Yoona-_sunbaenim_? Wait, so you’re not joking back then when you said you liked her!”

“Yes and no.”

“Wait which part is yes which part is no?”

“Why do you want to know?” Johnny laughed, “Go figured them out yourself!”

“Not fun.”

“Easily give up? Very not Ten.” Johnny mocked, “But really, Ten, I wished I could turn back time to fixed some things. Even just for the tiniest thing, I think it can change our relationship to a better one.”

“Oh.” Ten muttered, “That’s…….sad.”

He too, wished that he could turn back time to prevent baby Ten from getting hurt by one of the person he trusted the most.

“Yeah, we fucked up real bad.”

“You must be the terrible one.” Ten said as a joke (and maybe he’s kind of guilt tripping the taller), but immediately muttered a ‘sorry’ when Johnny didn’t laugh.

“I hate that you’re right.” Johnny said.

_Yeah, me too. I hate that sometimes I was right._

“I wish he’ll still feel the same.”

Ten lifted his head to look at Johnny, surprised. It’s a he? So, Johnny’s not avoiding him because he’s disgusted?

“So your feeling was mutual?” Ten didn’t know why he asked this, slowly hurting himself like this. He really, really, wanted to slap himself.

“Yeah. Didn’t know about him now, but for me,” Johnny stopped walking and faced Ten, “My love for him never changed. No. Worse, it grew bigger.”

Ten stared at Johnny and got absorbed into his eyes. The man looked genuine and oddly sad, eventhough he’s smiling.

“We have arrived.”

When Johnny turned around, Ten shook his head, forcing the weird feelings in him out of his body.

“Come on, Ten! The movie is starting in 8 minutes!”

“Okay!”

If Ten was thinking about himself when Johnny described his crush a moment ago, he would surely not going to tell anyone about it.


	3. Joy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten and Johnny hangs out in a fine, Christmas day!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A late update and a little longer, hope you enjoy!

Their original plan to watch only a single movie became two, and now, they came out from the cinema with stiff neck and slight headaches. It was when Johnny’s stomach loudly growled, that they realized they had skipped lunch, so they went straight to any restaurant nearby.

They had come to an agreement earlier, right before the film started, where Johnny would paid for their tickets and Ten would be the one who paid for their foods because Ten insisted. So, he was glad when they stepped into a fast food restaurant for a sandwich or two. Not fancy, not flashy, not taking too much time to wait, and most importantly, it’s wallet friendly.

Johnny couldn’t stop talking about the movie the entire time they’re queueing, Ten afraid he’d accidentaly spoiled the whole plot to some people. When they eat, however, they became silent, enjoying their food. Most of their time was spent munching the sandwich and scrolling their own phones.

To be very honest, eventhough he looks calm outside, Ten’s mind was filled with theories and guessings as to whom Johnny’s long term crush might be. As much as his teenager heart loved fantasizing him being liked back by Johnny, adult Ten knew better that the whole thing was impossible. So, he tried to put two and two together, analyzing things, eliminating here and there, and finally, the clues lead to the one and only man he currently could think about.

Kim Doyoung.

Well, at least, if it’s someone from their circle, it must be him.

It’d make sense, really. Ten was pretty sure it’s him, considering some reasons like:

  1. Ten was badly rejected, so he’s out.
  2. Doyoung and Johnny grew up together.
  3. Johnny said their feeling was mutual.
  4. Which was make sense, because Doyoung cut his contact with Ten not long (2 weeks maybe?) after the confession happened. Maybe Johnny told him about it and he’s jealous?

Ten shook his head hard enough to be noticed by Johnny. When the taller looked up from his phone and raised an eyebrow, Ten awkwardly smiled.

“Nothing. There’s uhh, mosquitoes.”

Johnny didn’t react, nor questioning him, instead, he showed Ten his phone and grinned widely, saying, “Look at them! Cute aren’t they?”.

It’s a video of Mark and Donghyuk having a snowball fight with Donghyuk cheating, and the snowball fight turned into a real fight. Honestly, eventhough Ten loved kids, he never know how to react to their antiques –unlike cats where he could unconsciously cooed at them-, so, he just smiled while saying something like, “They’re cute”. It’s not like Johnny would care much about his reaction. The man would just excitedly talking about kids for the next hour, and Ten was a little proud knowing that he’s right.

Honestly, listening to Johnny’s stories helped him in distracting his assumptions a lot and he’s thankful for it. Johnny was talking non stop about his nephews and it’s cute, at least in Ten’s perspective. From what he listened, at least he knew about Mark and Donghyuk as if he had known themselves for years. And when Ten asked who was his favorite one between Mark and Donghyuk, Johnny _fucking whined _because he couldn’t choose. Damn he hate that he’s stuck between wanting to cringe or cooing because Johnny was weirdly cute.

“No, seriously Ten, you’re going to love them so much, even Hyuckie!”

Donghyuk, the kid that accused him of stealing and couldn’t stop being so loud like Hendery, Yangyang did? Sure. Whatever Johnny said was almost like a fact to him.<strike></strike>

They finally left when the sky was getting darker to search for Jaehyun’s homecoming gift. Since Ten still didn’t have any idea on what to buy, they walked without any direction, going from stores to stores to see whatever fits, and still, nothing seems nice enough for Jaehyun. It’s either too expensive, too basic, too much, or too little. In the end, Johnny suggested him to buy a camera for Jaehyun.

“You’re planning to make me more broke, huh?” Ten said jokingly, earning Johnny’s sorry-not-sorry laugh (damn him). He lifted a mirrorless camera and scrunched his nose when he saw the price tag. It’s been a long time since the last time he bought a camera, so he kind of forgot how expensive they could be.

“Actually I want to buy a new lens too, so I think, why don’t give him a camera since he’s also interested in photography?”

“Wait, how did you know? He’s into photography only recently.”

“Instagram? Ten, look at me!” Johnny said, and when Ten turned around, he heard a snap.

“Stop it!” he said, putting the mirrorless back to it’s place.

“Why should I?” Johnny said, then another click was heard. Ten reached his hand out, trying to take Johnny’s camera, but the taller acted faster and put his camera back to his pocket.

“Let me see the result, I might look bad!”

“No, you’ll delete it.” Johnny said, before paying his lenses and bro-fisting with the owner. Ten stood quietly, watching them talking because he didn’t know what to do, and when Johnny left, he followed.

“You two seems close.” Ten said, widen his legs to catch up with Johnny’s giant step. He look at Johnny’s pocket –where the camera was located, “You often buy things there?” he continued as he closened their gap, so now they’re walking side by side, with Ten almost leaning to Johnny and purposely bumped into him for a few times.

“Woah, too close.” Johnny took his camera out and waved it to Ten, “Good thing, you’re bad in pickpocketing.” He grinned, then took another snap, making the smaller whined, “and no, I only bought things there twice, but the owner is my senior in college, if you still need the information.”

“Please, just let me see!” Ten said, ignoring the information, but Johnny shook his head. “Fine, whatever.” He humphed, then took his phone out, “I can do the same.” He continued, then started to record Johnny.

“Oh no, you’re taking my pic without consent!” Johnny dramatically said, mocking Ten.

“I’m not! I’m recording.” Ten laughed.

“That doesn’t sound any better.” Johnny said, and then started running. Ten chased after him when he realized Johnny ran away because he’s avoiding Ten’s phone camera. They’re busy playing around like that for a while, didn’t care about people’s stare (like why the hell would two grown ups running around in a busy road?). Ten stopped running when he bumped into Johnny pretty hard, his nose must be red like Santa’s reindeer.

“Oh, sorry.” Johnny said –sorry not sorry-, laughing while pointing at Ten’s red nose, “It’s- nevermind, we’ve arrived!”

Ten looked at the store they passed by some times ago and frowned. His mouth formed a big ‘O’ when he remembered about the sweater for Jaehyun’s gift that he couldn’t stop talking about to Johnny because of the softness of it’s fabric. How thoughtful Johnny was, remembering whatever Ten wanted to do, being his personal, walking reminder.

They ended up buying more clothes. A sweater for Jaehyun, a jacket for Ten (it’s on sale, fuck yeah), and Johnny also bought the same type of jacket that Ten bought, different color, because as Johnny said, “Wow, what a coincidence! We still have the same taste!” and Ten was, definitely _not_ reading too much into it, and said , “Ahaha, yeah, what a coincidence.”

The night was still long, so Johnny suggested going to the arcade, which Ten declined because he’s broke as hell after spending all those money to a mouth watering clothing store. Seeing Johnny unconsciously dropped his shoulder after listening to Ten’s answer made him feel bad and changed his mind. “I’m just kidding, let’s go to arcade.”

“No no no. No arcade.”

They walked in comfortable silence, following wherever their instinct told them to. Ten didn’t try to inisiate any conversation at all, knowing Johnny was being quiet because he’s thinking of something related to their current –walking with no direction- state. He noticed there’s a crowd near the city’s fountain and decided to approached them to fulfill his curiousity while dragging Johnny with him.

Turns out there’s a group of people performing dance, something that piqued Ten’s interest. He too, used to be dancing a lot up until he graduated college, 4 months before he accidentaly fractured his ankle in the middle of teaching dance with Sicheng and Yuta. It was a lonely time where he could only listened to his their story about the class he used to teach, and when he almost fully recovered, he was sad to know that another person had replaced him, making him had no choice but to finally start using his art degree to do freelancing.

That’s why, he’s more than happy to see something like this. Whenever he saw one, he always stayed until they finished their performances and giving them the applause they deserved, and this time was no different. He moved his body a little, following some hand movements, and humming to the song.

He looked at Johnny to see if the man was also enjoying the show, and smiled wider when he saw Johnny’s smile radiated pure joy. They watched until the performers finished, giving them the loudest applause as a support.

“Speaking of dancing, I just remembered about something you’d love to see.” Johnny excitedly said. He grabbed Ten’s arm, dragging the smaller and forcing him to fucking run because Johnny suddenly walked super fast, with that unfairly long legs and wide steps, making Ten tripped for a few times because of that, not to mention Johnny had the strength of a boar, so any attempt to pulled away his hand was pointless at this point.

They keep walking like that for minutes and Ten tried his best to not focusing on how Johnny now pulled his wrist and never let go. He looked away from their linked hand, changing his attention to the street their currently in, and frowned upon recognizing that, hey, this place was definitely, extremely, getting more and more familiar.<strike></strike>

“We’re going to the café again?!” Ten asked in disbelief. Johnny on the other hand only nodded. “You really wanted to kill me with caffeine aren’t you?”

“I think with your current dose, they won’t kill you.” Johnny laughed, “Besides, who said that I’m going to pay you another coffee?”

He knew the man was only joking, but still, blush spread slowly from his neck, to his cheek, to his whole face. Ten coughed and turned away, suddenly realizing that the snowy ground looks very interesting.

“There they are!” Johnny said, finally releasing Ten’s hand. He ran towards the crowd in front of the café, then called Ten’s name loudly –god, it’s so embarrassing.

When he stood beside Johnny, however, his eyes widen, hands unconsciously searching for something to hold on, tugging Johnny’s sleeve because he couldn’t believe what he sees. He blinked for a few times, fingers pointing to the two person in the middle of the crowd, then looked at Johnny, like he’s confused and demanding explanation for all of this.

Because surrounded by the crowd, were Taeyong, Jaemin, and the trainee he talked to this morning, dancing to a popular song confidently like they always owned the stage.

“It’s all their idea. It wasn’t like this last year. Lucas will be sad when he sees this.” Johnny giggled, then took out his phone to record the event. Ten peeked a little to see why Johnny couldn’t stop giggling, and the moment he saw Lucas’s name, he shook his head. Mean.

“Nana said things like this will grab people’s attention and hopefully, make people more interested in the café. A fun way to do promotion isn’t it? He has a great mind and great personality, just his taste in coffee a little sucks.”

“Nana who?”

“Jaemin.”

“Ahh…. Oh wow, you shit talked a kid, I’m going to tell him about this.”

“Go on.” Johnny dared, laughing. He ran and joined the three, randomly dancing to the beat. Jaemin and the other trainee hyped him up, noisily screaming from the top of their lungs while keeping their moves controlled.

Johnny never changed, Ten thought. He danced greatly like he did in highschool, when Jaehyun and Ten taught him some choreography once in a month. When the music changed, however, he danced like……. Johnny. The not so cool Johnny, the weird and shameless Johnny, the doing his best as a con to make people laugh Johnny –which somehow made the girls in his highschool more interested in him. Ten covered his eyes with a hand, couldn’t stand Johnny being embarrassing, and decided to just observe the café.

There stood Jungwoo, recording the dance while silently cheering from inside the café, meanwhile the other guy he saw earlier this morning yawned by the cashier, alongside with a stranger that somehow looks familiar from behind, but he couldn’t recall when and who.

Suddenly, a hand dragged him forward, forcing Ten’s attention to rapidly changed, eyes widen in surprise when he realized he’s now standing in the middle of the supposedly stage. He looked around confused and a little panic, meanwhile the culprit –It’s Johnny, who else?- grinned widely, eyebrows raised challenging him.

“Hyung, what the-”

“Go on, it’s your turn, best dancer!” he said as he stepped to the side, leaving Ten alone in the middle.

_This is embarrassing, this is truly embarrassing. _He’s so, so, _so_, gonna curse Johnny.

The music changed, this time it’s a very popular duet song (what was it called again? Baby Don’t Cry? Baby Don’t Stop?), the last song he teached to his students before he fucked up his ankle. A very good dance song, easy to listen, a little provocative, overall nice, but this time, he had to dance a duet song _alone _in front of public (thanks Johnny, really) and it’s embarrassing.

“Let’s do it together.” Taeyong showed up beside him, “Heard you’re a good dancer. Have you dance to this song before?”

“Yeah.” Ten said, “I usually danced to the singer’s part.”

Taeyong muttered an ‘okay’, then started dancing and soon enough, Ten followed. Perhaps it’s Taeyong’s stage persona or maybe it’s the memories behind the song, but Ten gained a lot of confidence while dancing to the song and turned the stage as his. No, theirs. He could hear Jaemin and the black haired trainee shouting, hyping them up, and he absorbed people’s stares as his power. Honestly, he never thought showing off his talent in front of many people again would feel this good.

When the song ended, people applauded loudly, made his heart fluttered. He walked towards Johnny who was stunned, this time with a lot of confidence, then challenged the man back, dragging him to the center of the crowd.

“This is unfair.” Johnny whispered. “You’re doing too great.”

“You’re also doing great.” Was Ten’s last reply before going back to dance, accompanied by Johnny and the black haired trainee. The song changed for a few times, from Ten’s favorite idol, Taemin, to a rising girl group’s song that Ten didn’t know about but surely very popular, to random R&B music from Taeyong’s playlist.

Their event finished after 5 songs, gaining lots of people watching and praising them. Jaemin was busy taking his chance to thankedvthe viewer and promoted the café, while the rest of them went inside the now crowded coffee shop –thank’s to Jaemin’s idea. Jungwoo was already back to his cashier spot, meanwhile the sleepy staff was busy creating the orders with Taeyong. The –somewhat familiar- man from before was already gone, he noticed.

Johnny was busy taking photos of the café, then threw all his belongings to an empty seat and asked Ten to take care of it when Taeil called his name. He’s, unexpectedly, helping Taeyong making the orders so the queue wouldn’t get too long. The view made Ten realized that he didn’t really know about Johnny’s current life other than his love life, like what’s the man’s job, or if he’s staying only for vacation. It’s always Johnny the one who asked him things, updating about his life, not the other way around. Maybe Ten needed to fix this soon enough.

Ten looked at the things Johnny entrusted him to. Among them was the camera he’s fighting to get on their way to the café, the true star of their Christmas day. He lifted the camera, turned it around and staring at it, contemplating whether he should sneakily looked at what’s inside. But did he really wanted to see the photos? Or was he only playing around to brought Johnny’s attention towards him? He didn’t know.

He flinched when someone called his name, almost throwing Johnny’s camera in the process. There, on the counter where the voice originated from, stood Jaemin with a wide grin, shaking a cup of something that Ten couldn’t really identify while mouthing something like ‘come’ to him. There’re only 2 customers left, waiting for their drinks to be given to them, and some of the staffs was seen already resting and joking with each other.

“Caught in the act, huh?” Jaemin said when he came, making Ten rolled his eyes to cover himself being flustered. The boy gave the cup to him while promoting the drink in whispers even when the other two customers go away, like it’s a secret between them. Ten nodded, listening, doing his best in appreciating Jaemin’s effort to explain things he didn’t actually need to know. Apparently, the drink –a tea- was going to be released as a limited edition menu special for Chinese New Year and Ten was the first customer to try it, which Ten appreciated a lot for trusting him as their first tester.

“Okay, have you set the price?” Ten asked, ready to pulled out his wallet. Jaemin was about to answer when Johnny came beside him, preventing him to pay, again. Jaemin backed away slowly.

“But you said you won’t pay me another coffee?”

“Yeah? But I still can pay for the tea right?” was Johnny’s answer, indicated that Ten had lost his argument. His ears twitched when he overheard Jaemin whispered ‘ohhh I can feel the flirt’ to Jeno.

Ten gulped. Damn nosy kids. “Okay, you won.”

“I won?”

“No, you misheard things.”

Someone was heard clearing his throat. Ten turned his head to see Jungwoo holding a jar full of cookies. The man smiled and asked, “Do you want some?”

Ten nodded. “Isn’t this the cookies from this morning? Christmas edition?” he said as he took the bell shaped one and chewed it.

“Yes, this is the failed one, see, there’s a crack or some of them have missing part.” Jungwoo pointed out to the Rudolph shaped one that lost an eye and got a complain from Taeyong because he’s exposing the failed product. “Anyway, I miss you.”

“It’s been like, what? Only a week! Do you miss me that much?”

“Yes? I mean, I never see someone as loyal as you. And you usually came like, 2 times a week for the very least?” He chuckled.

“Ah, really? I miss you too.”

“I miss you three” Johnny said, Ten rolled his eyes.

“Nana miss you four!” Jaemin said to Johnny, making a kissing face. Johnny pushed his face away and Jaemin pouted then shook the other trainee’s shoulder harshly, “Jeno, the boss is being mean to meeee!”

“I hope he fires you.” the other replied quietly.

“What? Why are you so mean?! You’re playing too much with Injunie!” the cotton pink haired boy complained.

So, the black haired trainee’s name was Jeno. What a unique name, and kinda rings a bell. Have he heard the name before? Was it in animes?

Wait.

Oh right.

“A boss, really?” Ten turned his head towards Johnny who’s now busy drinking his coffee and the man replied with a ‘yes?’ like it’s nothing. Ten’s frowned, and his reflex was to make gestures, voicing out his confusion through action.

“It’s just a silly nickname from Nana, chill.”

“No?? Jeno, boss slandered me!” Jaemin said, shaking Jeno’s shoulder harshly and the other boy could do nothing but smiled, gave up.

“Johnny is the owner of this café you never know?” Taeyong suddenly butted in, “Right, Taeil?”

The sleepy guy from earlier –Taeil nodded, said “You should stop skipping work, you’re giving bad example.”

“Wait, so you often skipping work??” Ten quietly asked. There’s too much things going on in a time, absolutely confusing. Johnny shook his head in self defense. “No!!”

“Yes he is.” Taeyong sneered, “At least for today, that is.”

“Well, can’t be helped, my sister is coming over.”

“I don’t see you with your sister, I see you going on a date instead.” said Taeil, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, just a little blank and sleepy.” He smiled, thumbs up.

_‘A date?’_ Ten thought. Wasn’t Johnny said earlier that he’s not seeing someone?

“It’s you!” Jungwoo said, upon noticing Ten’s confused look. Ten frowned and pointing to himself, Jungwoo nodded.

_???? What the fuck._

_‘Oooohh’ _Ten heard Jaemin whispered –or so the boy thought but it’s pretty distracting, then “Come on Jeno, get back to work!” he said, dragging Jeno with him to the other side of the room.

Ten was startled when a hand snaked it’s way around his shoulder, resting there like he’s some kind of a hanger. Ten’s eye traced the arm back to it’s owner and finding that _of course_, it’s Johnny. The action did left Ten confused and mentally back flipped, moreover when Johnny said, “And what about it?”

A silence.

Ten looked between Johnny, Jungwoo, Taeil, Taeyong, the trainees, and then some of the customers who were looking at them, and then back to Johnny, and back again to Jungwoo, and the cycle continued.

Talk goddamit. React. Fly. Do something.

“Told you he’s going to reply like this.” Taeyong sighed, “We got the new boy freaked out instead.”

“Ten. His name is Ten.” said Jungwoo. “Sorry Ten, we’re joking around you see.”

“The plan was to make Johnny feel embarrassed, you know, pranking him because Taeil hyung said he’s bored.” said Taeyong.

“It’s also because he skipped for a few days in these past 2 weeks.” Taeil yawned.

“…….Ahh, not fun.” Jeno said, getting a reaction from Johnny who couldn’t stop grinning. The man dropped his hand from Ten’s shoulder, and then walking towards Jeno too excitedly it’s scary. “I see you want me to be your date instead. Come here, hyung will give you lots of love and kisses!” He said, successfully changing Jeno’s expression into terror.

“The trainees didn’t know our plan.” Jungwoo chuckled, “But- oh, welcome, what’s your order?”

Ten turned his head to see someone was standing behind him, so he moved away. He didn’t even realized that he’s standing right in front of the cashier and blocking the customers from ordering.

Taeil stood after looking at the clock and walked towards the café’s door, flipping the open sign to close. Taeyong was standing in near Jungwoo, listening to the customer’s order and quickly finished making her order. Jaemin was still playing around with Johnny –a pretty embarrassing sight since they’re not children anymore-, dragging Jeno and shielding the poor boy from the giant who couldn’t contain his laughter all the time. The man suddenly stopped chasing the boys, searching for his phone and went outside, probably answering a call. Ten could see Jeno sighed in relief.

“Sorry about that.” Taeyong suddenly said, the (maybe) last customer was already gone.

“About what?”

“That. Uhmm. The joke. You looked like you almost freaked out.”

Ten blinked for a few time, “Did i?” he asked, redness slowly creeping from his neck to his cheek upon remembering his own reaction (that’s getting worse after recalling the same thing for a few times in his memory) minutes ago. He coughed, fake laughing “Ohh I get it. It’s okay, I’m fine. I mean, who’s not freaking out when you’re almost got strangled by a Johnny right?”

Taeyong accidentaly laugh out loud that people were staring at him. The man gulped, shrugged, and raising an eyebrow. “That sounds very dramatic, but I like it.”

“So, which of the information is true?”

“What?”

“Everything I guess? Since we finished the dancing event.” Ten didn’t know where his boldness came from. Well, he’s bold. He’s always bold. And brave, actually. But not towards Johnny matter. Perhaps asking informations from Johnny’s friends gave him more courage than directly asking the man himself. It could be also because the way him and Johnny acted more freely today.

Taeyong was seen thinking.

“I didn’t really know what he’s up to recently, you know. Jobs, life, studies.” Ten blurted out without thinking, then bit his lip. Crap. He just exposed what he’s thinking to a stranger he just met this morning. He should stop.

“I mean, the kids was calling him boss ahahaha I mean, it’s funny imagining him as a café owner.” Fuck, why can’t he stop???

“He is. He’s their boss. For real. He usually helped mostly on evenings when the trainees finished their shift, or sometimes midday if he’s available. I’m just a friend though, maybe you should try asking him directly for more.” Taeyong winked.

Half of the lights turned off got Ten turned around, confused. The song that’s always playing to build the café’s atmosphere was turned off, and the customers left were starting to pack their belongings, some of them leaving the café. So, this must be their way to shoo-ed people away.

Johnny came back a bit later, when the only customer left was still busy waiting for his laptop to probably shut down (or maybe he’s downloading stuffs?). The men was noticeably different, not as cheerful as the Johnny from a while ago. Yes, he’s still widely smiling, but his eyes was….. not as excited. The thing is, nobody seemingly realizing Johnny changing, and that made Ten doubt his assumptions, yet getting more worried. But then Johnny was back to being the happy virus Johnny, made Ten confused and wondered if something was really happening to the taller, or maybe Ten’s just hallucinating.

Ten pulled his vibrated phone and noticed that it’s his alarm ringing and not his usual group notifications. Time really flies so fast, he realized. It’s already 10.30.

He wondered if he should tell everyone that he wanted to go home, or just politely waited for everyone to finished their jobs and gently chased him out of the café. It’s not like they’d care about him, he thought, but at the same time, the staffs had treated him like he’s a part of their circle even if it’s only for a short time. In the end, he decided to tell everyone that he’d go back because his phone was left with 8% battery. Absolutely alarming.

So, Ten gathered his courage and walked towards Johnny first. When he almost tapped on the taller’s shoulder, said guy coincidentally turned around, surprising Ten and making him suddenly forgot how to talk, right hand still awkwardly floating in the air. A little panic Ten wrecking his brain and pointing to the clock while grinning, saying “I must go back” with a rather quivering voice. Damn, just now he could acted confidently, but now he’s back to being like this?

“Oh right. Wait a minute.” Johnny said and then went back to talk with the workers. Ten was just standing there, not knowing what to do. Was he supposed to stay? Or he’s actually could go home right now if he wanted to? He got the permission?

Ten decided to slowly, quietly step back while waving to whoever saw him, silently saying goodbye. At the very least, Jaemin saw him and gave him a smile and a nod, then Ten was out from the café.

Not a minute later, Johnny surprisingly came out, catching his breath. “I told you to wait!” he whined.

Just how many times had Johnny whine today? He wondered.

“I’ll send you home.”

Ten raised an eyebrow. “What? Why? What for? No. I’m fine!”

“Are you sure? It’ll be boring to walk alone.”

“So, walking with you will make it less boring?”

“Judging from how someone was happy all day long, I guess….. yes?” his smirked.

Ten rolled his eyes, smiling. “I never said I’m satisfied with your company.”

“I never said that someone is you.”

_God, Johnny’s so annoying. _

“I’m used to it, okay? I’m an adult in case you forgot.” Ten said. Johnny raised an eyebrow.

“Really?”

“Are you doubting me?”

“Yes.”

They stood there for a long time, staring right into each other in silence, not thinking about moving from their place at all. It’s like they’re talking with their eyes, battling their thoughts, yet assuring each other that they’re fine. That Ten’s fine, and Johnny should stop wearing the doubt in his eyes because it’s annoying yet (Ten hated to say this,) comforting.

The staring contest stopped when Jaemin, poked his head from the café, excitedly screaming “Nana will send him home!”. Johnny stared at the boy while Ten blinked, dumbstrucked because of the sudden yell.

“It’s dangerous for kids to go out alone.”

“I’m not alone. I’m going with Jeno.” Jaemin replied, pulling Jeno’s hand, dragging the black haired boy out of the café. When Ten confusedly staring at him, Jeno shrugged with a polite smile, then whispered something to Johnny. The taller raised an eyebrow, smiled, then brofisting the trainee.

“Deal!” he said. All of sudden, Johnny hugged Ten tightly, so tight his body’s hurting, and he could hardly breathe. The boys beside him gasped. Well, the fact that _it’s Johnny!_ also helped in making his heart beat much faster than it should –making him harder to breathe, and Ten, feeling confused, surprised, and flustered at the same time, didn’t know where to put his hand, so he just stood there, frozen, stunted.

“Thank you for today. Thank you so much. You really made my day.” Johnny said, and confused Ten could only nervously parroting him –out of reflex- and awkwardly returning his hug (he tried!). When Johnny didn’t let go, Ten looked at the trainees, asking for help, but all Jaemin did was raising eyebrows before trying to hug Jeno who kept distancing himself, while mimicking Johnny’s speech. Ten rolled his eyes. Apparently, he must depend on himself? Deal.

So, Ten knocked- no, hit Johnny’s shoulder because the guy didn’t react to him, and Johnny releasing him made him sighed in relief yet feeling lost and empty. The taller guy still put both his hands on Ten’s shoulder though, probably without realizing it because he’s too busy watching the trainees having fun mocking them, an eyebrow raised.

“Nana, Jeno, come here!”

Jaemin and Jeno froze, and when Johnny spread his arms while walking with long strides towards them, saying “Let _hyung_ hug you too!”, Jeno awkwardly smiled while Jaemin took a step back, raising his hands as if he surrendered. “Uhh, _hyung_, we don’t- heeurdsfnfnsdf!!”

It’s so cute watching the boys complaining about the hug, especially watching Jeno who fake cried and Jaemin trying his best to hugged Johnny tighter as if they’re in a competition. Ten could see their relief when they’re done with hugging –so fast, he wondered if him too, actually hugged for not as long as he thought?- and waving their hands towards Johnny.

“Wow, I can’t believe you could handle that.” Jeno said after leaving the street. When Ten blankly stared, lost, he continued, “The hug. It’s scary. Bone crushing. Have tried, once in a life time-”

“Twice.” –Jaemin cut.

”Twice in a life time experience, and will definitely not do that again if there’s a chance.”

“What? That’s mean! I love hugging Johnny _hyung_! He’s warm!”

“You didn’t seems to like his hug just now!”

“No? it’s-”

Listening to them banter was fun, more so because he knew Jeno was half joking half speaking the truth, so he laughed, because well, same. Glad to know he’s not alone in this.

“Well, back then in highschool he used to do that too. Not often, only in certain situation, but it’s been a long time, so I kind of forgot how it feels.” Ten questioned himself why he told this to the boys, alas, he continued his storytelling. “Most of the time he loves putting his arm on people shorter than him and it’s also as deadly.”

Jaemin clasped his hand. “That! That’s soooo right!”

“Oh, he still did it?”

“Yes, although he usually did it to Taeil-_hyung_ since he’s never complaining.” Jeno shrugged.

“Oh.”

“You two seems close!” Jaemin excitedly said, “Tell us more about him!”

Their walk to home was filled with Jaemin’s never ending comments towards Ten’s storytelling and Jeno who talked politely whenever they needed respons. The trainees talked a lot, starting from how they’re from the same class in their school, how Jeno was the one to introduced Jaemin to his current job, how kind the staffs treatments towards them, to which way they usually took whenever they go home, Jeno and Jaemin who were always walking home together because they’re neighbours, and sometimes Jaemin would go home together with Lucas, or Jeno would go back home with his older brother, which Ten wanted to ask more in case they maybe knew each other, but as great as it sounds, their never ending stories should ended here for today, as they finally reached Ten’s home, their original destination.

“Oh, it’s closer than we thought.” Jaemin said.

“I told you, I’m fine walking alone.” Ten said.

“Well, I mean, your place is probably the closest to the café out of everyone, and surprise! Our houses was 10 minutes walk from here!” Jaemin said, “And Lucas’s apartment was not far from here, in that building over there.” Jeno added, pointing to the tall, luxurious looking apartment. Ten raised his eyebrows. Damn, that Lucas kid surely was way more rich than him.

“And who lives the farthest?” Ten asked to make their conversation on going while tapping his card to his door.

“Probably Taeil-_hyung_?” Jeno said, “Nah, it’s Johnny-_hyung_. He lives in total opposite direction from us.” Jaemin replied.

“Really?” Did he lives in apartment? Or houses? How far was his place from here? Was it tiring commuting between his place and the café?

“Eh-heum!”

Ten turned the lamps on and squinted to adjust to the light. He looked at the clock, then to the kids standing in front of his door, curiously looking inside but never moving from their spot. It’s already late, so he offered them to go inside and stay, which they declined, and Ten insisted because it’s dangerous for them to be outside at this late, but they still declined because Jeno said “My brother is waiting at home” and “It’s okay, we’re happy to accompany people”, and before Ten could ask more, Jeno’s phone rang and he’s answering while waving his hand towards Ten. Jaemin also did the same while mouthing a ‘bye-bye’, so Ten did the very least he could, watching them walking out of the building safely from his place.

* * *

Ten arrived in his bedroom feeling exhausted yet content. For the past 3 years, he always had to spent his Christmas alone and only accompanied by video calls from either his friends or parents, so he’s more than happy when people choosed to spend their holidays with him. The fact that it’s Johnny who stayed clearly made everything better. Sure, Ten was doubting himself earlier, worrying if his old wound would make it possible to stay with the culprit for all day without any excuse in case shitty things happened, but his experience today clearly proved his worries from the day earlier was wrong.

With Johnny, everything was more fun and different, since they shared the same level of weirdness and hobbies; something Ten missed a lot and it definitely hit close to home. Maybe, this is the perfect time to get over the past, forget things and completely move on, living in present, acting as if the bad memories he had with Johnny from back then had never existed, and proceed to just have fun with the guy, enjoying his life, and learn to trust again. It’d be really worth to try. This way, teenager Ten would probably win in life, and adult Ten could having fun with the guy he could never dislike, without feeling a little anxious everytime.

Ten checked his phone and didn’t surprised to see that his notification had blew up. It’s to be expected since he turned on his airplane mode this evening and the noisy guys (him included) were always more active at night. He opened some messages before decided to cleaned himself first because reading all notifications would definitely took him hours.

He flopped down on the bed when he finished changing, accidentaly knocked his head hard against his phone. It hurted a little, but on a positive side, he didn’t need to search for his phone again.

_‘Right, Hendery-Yangyang maybe just arrived’_, Ten thought, when he saw his most active group chat –consist of Sicheng, Kun, Xiaojun, Hendery, Yangyang, and himself- only got 130s notification.

The group was founded when Sicheng introduced his cousin, Kun, to Ten when they just entered college. What Sicheng didn’t tell was, having Kun as his friends meant he had to deal with 3 chaotic teenagers as a package. What Ten didn’t know, however, was the fact that the 3 noisy kids was actually, unconsciously helping Ten feeling much better after his major heartbreak in highschool.

Ten scrolled his gallery to see which photos he should post to the group. The members were sending him photos of them enjoying their holiday in their hometown, talking about their families, the events happening there, showing off their hotpot dinners from three different province, and lastly, they asked Ten if he’s feeling alright. In the end, Ten selected a few photo of places he visited (he made sure no Johnny was spotted in his pictures) and sent it to the group.

**Ten**

_[image attached]_

_[image attached]_

_[image attached]_

_[image attached]_

_[image attached]_

_[image attached]_

_Hello I’m alive_

_Can you guys pls stop making me drooling_

**Kun**

_Oh, he’s here_

_Great, how was your date?_

_Wait are there no photos of you eating_

**Xiaojun**

_He had a date??_

_Should’ve tell me sooner so I can ruin his date_

_Jk Ten-ge I love you_

**Ten**

_Wow, y’all also still alive_

_Xiaojun I’m going to put a curse on you just wait and see_

_It’s not a date wtf we’re just spending a day together_

_And yes, I’m well fed, in case you wanna know_

**Xiaojun**

_Anyway I posted a new cover pls listen to it_

_Or I won’t bring you these_

_[image attached]_

**Ten**

_WAIT WHAT IS THAT THAT LOOKS TASTY_

_Where’s your cover_

**Xiaojun**

_Scroll_

**Kun**

_Listen to mine too ;;v;;_

_I created a whole new song_

**Ten**

_No_

**Kun**

_Mean_

**WW**

_Here I scrolled back for you_

_[voice note attached]_

_Xiaojun’s_

_[link attached]_

_Kun’s_

**Ten**

_Thanks a lot_

_Wait who are you_

**WW**

_Sicheng_

**Ten**

_Why are you changing your u/n_

**WW**

_Easier to remember?_

Ten’s phone rang with Sicheng’s new profile name on display, so he immediately answered. It felt weird answering his call because Sicheng never changed his name except if it’s for a bet.

“Hello who is this?” Ten bit his lips so that he wouldn’t suddenly laugh. The call changed into a video call, and the first thing Ten saw was Sicheng adjusting his phone and rolling his eyes.

“_I knew it I shouldn’t change my name._” he said. “_How’s the date?_”

“Can you guys please stop it? It’s not a date!” Ten heavily sighed on purpose and Sicheng laughed.

“_It’s easier to say ‘date’ than ‘hanging out together with someone you met only for a few times in a Christmas day’ you know._”

Ten snorted.

“What are you doing?”

“_Calling you?_” Sicheng grinned when Ten squinted his eyes, obviously judging him, “_No, really, I do nothing, my family are already sleeping. What about you?_”

“Updating? But then you called- oh wait.” Ten took his laptop and turned it on, then sat against his headboard. He opened many applications at once, put his earphone on, and continued his video call through the laptop. “Okay this is much better.” He said while scrolling his fan account and wailed when there’s a news about Taemin who’d start his solo tour next year.

“_Told you to teach dancing with me and Yuta but you didn’t listen._”

“Someone already took my position, mom.”

“_Oh. Forgot about that._” Sicheng rubbed his face and yawn, “_Have you listened to what Xiaojun and Kun shared?_”

“Currently listening.” Ten replied, eyes rapidly keeping up with every chats he missed, “Oh, I just realized Yuta only posted once today.”

“_Ah, yes, he told me he adopted a dog so he’s kind of busy helping it adapting? I don’t know._” Sicheng said, and then yawned again. Ten nodded, mouthing an ‘O’.

“Just sleep if you’re tired.”

“_No, not yet. I still haven’t finished interrogating you. How’s your day? Did you get the answer you needed?_”

Ten checked Johnny’s chat and unconsciously smiled. The man sent him thankful messages and lots of pictures, from random streets to candid photos of Ten that he took (not so) secretly. He saved the photos one by one, and set his most favorite as his wallpaper. He quickly typed a ‘Thanks, stalker!” to Johnny and giggled when the man instantly replied with a whine. Yay for another whine today.

“_What’s funny?_”

“Nothing.” Ten said, “Just some photos from today and I think I looked cute.”

Sicheng tentatively smiled, “_Uhh, okay._”

“No, for real, look at this!” Ten sent a photo of him smiling while holding the expensive mirrorless camera to Sicheng, “Cute, right?”

Sicheng squinted his eyes and nodded, “_Did he take this photo for you? It turns out good._”

“My face is saving the whole photo I knew it.”

“_No, his photography skill saves your face._”

Ten scrunched his face.

“_You still haven’t answer me._”

“Hm?”

“_Did you get the answer you needed? You know, something you told me days ago._”

Ten blankly stared for a while, and then, “Ohhhh yes, I did! Turns out my life isn’t as dramatic as I thought!” He widely smiled.

“_I’m… not sure about the dramatic part, but well, as long as you’re happy._” Sicheng shrugged. “_So, is he kind?_”

“Well, of course Sichengie-yah. I wouldn’t be here, having a call with you if he’s a bad man.” He laughed.

“_I’m just worried, you know. You’re meeting someone with a bad first impression._”

“He’s not bad! He’s just… how to describe.. have you meet someone that you can’t hate eventhough they kind of hurt you or annoyed you sometimes??”

Sicheng went silent for a while, before answering, “_……yeah. So, do you want to tell me about him?_”

This time, Ten was the one who went silent. It’s not like he wanted to keep Sicheng in the dark. But, thinking of how Sicheng would react if he told him that the guy was Johnny made him nervous. He’s scared that once Sicheng knew, he wouldn’t want to hear Ten’s story anymore.

“No. Not yet.” Ten swallowed, “Sicheng. Do you still remember Doyoung?”

“_Of course. Why? Did something happened between you and him?_”

“…no?” Ten lied, “What do you think about him?”

“_Great friend? A mom? He gave the best advice among us._”

“Do you think there’s a chance that he like or maybe hate one of us?”

“_Like….. like you and that hyung? Yes. Why?_”

Ten bit his lips. Sicheng still refused to mention Johnny’s name.

“Nothing. Just a random thought crossed by. Anyway, do you hear anything from Jaehyun?”

“Y_es, he said you didn’t answer his call._”

“I did?”

“I don’t know? You didn’t tell him you’re going out today?”

“No? Why should I?” Ten checked his missed call, saw Jaehyun’s name on the top, and then bit his tongue. He‘s thinking of what other application that he hadn’t checked, and remembered that he hadn’t opened his email at all today.

He frowned when he saw a familiar name in his inbox, and immediately searched it up. His eyes widened when he knew that a famous celebrity was interested in his art, he had to re-read and scrolled back and forth to confirmed if he’s not hallucinating.

“_What is it?_”

“A famous person interested in my art.”

“_Wow, great! Congratulations?_”

“The problem is,” Ten scrolled the page for numerous time, reading again and again what the email said while frowning, “They gave me only like, a week as deadline. I mean, they’re offering me an interesting amount of money, but the deadline is so tight. They also sent me what they wanted in details. So much rules for something creative.”

“_Well, if you can’t handle it, then don’t take it I guess? But it’s a little suspicious don’t you think? Are you sure they’re not scamming? Maybe it’s a fake email or something?_” Sicheng yawned once more and turned his lamp off, so Ten could only see a part of his face. He pulled his blanket up high, ready to sleep in a few minutes.

“No, no, I can do this, I can finish them faster if I want. Just…. too sudden? And now I’m doubting them because of you. Anyway, you better sleep right now because you look like you barely can keep your ey- ouch.” Ten laughed so hard when the phone hit Sicheng’s face and the man groaned because it hit him hard on the teeth, “Must be hurt. I’m waiting to see you going toothless tomorrow.”

“_I’ll never call you again._”

“Aww, someone is sulk-”

“_Bye._” Sicheng said before ending their call. Ten was still laughing, shaking his head, and a little thankful because his friend would go that far to show their care, eventhough deep down, he’s also a little worried if Sicheng was really hurt or pissed off because of him. And then he’s back to checking his email.

Sicheng was right, what if this was a scam? But they offered him big money, not to mention they’re famous –if the email was real. If he’s accepting their request, he’d either got his art stolen, or got the money so he could finally go back home in Chinese new year, as well as being noticed by other bigger (perhaps company) names. If he refused, he could save more time but also rejected a big chance to expose his art to wider audience.

_Maybe it’s worth to try?_

Ten scrolled his phone and playing some games whilst thinking of what to reply. An hour later, he finally typed a reply, accepting the request, and thinking of some concepts so he could start doing his work by the time he wakes up later. He turned his laptop off and was getting ready for a good night sleep, but then decided to search for more references (and some stuff, as usual), when his phone suddenly vibrated admist him stalking Johnny’s account. He almost threw his phone out of surprise, more so when the caller turned out to be the man he stalked himself.

_Bad timing bad timing bad timing!_

Ten waited for the call to end instead of answering it. He stared at his phone for a long time because, _holy shit_, _Johnny’s calling_.

Up until today, they always texted but never call each other, so, the idea of listening to Johnny’s voice through the phone gave him a little anxiety. What if he make their conversation awkward?

And the phone rang again.

Ten looked at the time. It’s almost 1 AM, what’s he calling for?

He cleared his throat, telling himself for a few times that he’s answering a friend, not a client, then slide the answer button with a slightly shaky hands. Ten was the first one to say hi and he’s glad his voice didn’t come out weird.

“_Oh, you’re still awake._”

“You disturbed my sleep.” Ten said as a joke, but when there’s only silence coming from the end of the other line, he panicked. See? This was the reason why he preferred texting or directly talking instead of having a phone call.

“_Sor-_”

“No, no, I was joking. I was playing a game before you called.” He lied. Well, not exactly a lie but Johnny wouldn’t know anyway.

“_So, did you win?_”

“No, thanks to you.” He said, earning a laugh from the other side, “Why are you calling this late anyway?” He continued, surprisingly more confident. Perhaps listening to Johnny’s laugh somehow made him less tense and more brave. His nervousness was almost nowhere to be spotted.

_“Nothing. Just want to say thank you.”_

“You’ve done that in numerous time though?”

“_Yes, and I forgot to say I miss you, haha._”

What the f- no, Ten, he’s only joking, he’s-

“Are you crazy? We met like, less than 3 hours ago, _haha_.” Ten awkwardly laugh, “Say it _hyung_, what’s your actual reason for calling me?”

Johnny chuckled, answered, “_Okay, I’m calling because you’re ignoring my chats, and, uhhh just want to check if you’re asleep or maybe purposely leaving me on read._”

Wait, he did?

“Wow, you think I’m that kind of person? Mean.” Ten said as he quickly searched for Johnny’s name and widened his eyes when he really, accidentaly, leaving the guy on read. There’s some new message under the last chat he ignored. A photo of Johnny’s cousins, some random chats, and…. Oh.

“You’re calling this late to ask me for a favor?”

“_Smart. So, are you free tomorrow? Wait no, maybe on 30 or 31?_”

“Why?” Ten frowned. He had some works to do starting tomorrow!

“_I’m making schedule, uhh, where should I start…. So, the kids was left with me until next week_.”

“Okay?”

“_Their parents are fighting._”

Ahh…

“_And Wendy has some business to attend at 29 and 30, so right now I’m searching for people who can…_”

“Babysit.”

“_Nana volunteered to babysit along with Jeno while the rest of the boys will be working as usual, and I promised the kids to go to seaworld at the end of the year- I give up explaining. So, can you help me-_”

“Babysitting? How much are you paying me?” Ten grinned, “I was joking _hyung_, please don’t take it seriously.” He continued, yawning. He heard Johnny too, yawned from the other side, and then said, “I see, yawning is really contagious.”

“_Not really, it’s already past my bed time_.”

“Weak.”

“_You’re the one that yawned first, but sure, I’m the weak one._” Johnny said in a mocking tone. Ten giggled. “_So?_”

“What?”

“_If you don’t have any time I can ask Jeno to-_”

“I’ll answer you tomorrow morning, now sleep, and don’t skip your work tomorrow.”

“_I only skipped once in a while!_” Johnny laughed, “_So, you’re coming tomorrow?_”

“No? I have something to do.”

“_Should I delivery your cof-_”

“Please don’t. Night hyunggg!” he said before ending the call. Ten threw his phone away and sighed in relief. He could feel how his heart beats rapidly. His nervousness was finally, completely flushed out of his system.

He did it. He could converse normally with Johnny without fucking things up. He did it.

Ten looked at the clock and thinking about his conversation earlier. Going to seaworld was a very, very, very interesting idea, not to mention he was given a chance to play with kids for at least half day long. It sounds fun. But then, he’s just accepted a project with a tight deadline, and unfortunately, they have to be finished in a week, so playing with kids for a day was definitely going to be a waste of time.

He rolled on his bed and stared at the ceiling for a long time, contemplating between having fun and working hard, and then heaved a sigh.

An idea suddenly sprung out in his head.

What if he finished his work earlier?

Ten walked to his work desk and turned his laptop on, arranging his sketchbook and pencil to make it more convenient. He chatted Johnny –accepting his request, then lightly slapped himself.

_Well, fuck sleeping._

**Author's Note:**

> [CC](https://curiouscat.me/noriforliz)  
I'm open to critics!


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